Democratic Governor Candidate Al Checchi is joined by his family on the platform after speaking at the Democratic Convention Sunday in Los Angeles. From left are daughters Kate, 13, Kristin, 17, his wife Kathy and son Adam, 21. (Chronicle Photo by Sam Deaner) less

Democratic Governor Candidate Al Checchi is joined by his family on the platform after speaking at the Democratic Convention Sunday in Los Angeles. From left are daughters Kate, 13, Kristin, 17, his wife Kathy ... more

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Democratic candidate for governor Gray Davis is surrounded by friends and family as he greets supporters from the platform at the California Democratic State Convention at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel in Los Angeles Sunday. Chronicle Photo by Sam Deaner) less

Democratic candidate for governor Gray Davis is surrounded by friends and family as he greets supporters from the platform at the California Democratic State Convention at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel in Los ... more

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Democratic California Governor Candidate Jane Harman speaks at the General Session of the Democratic Convention at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel in Los Angeles Sunday.(Chronicle Photo by Sam Deaner)

Democratic California Governor Candidate Jane Harman speaks at the General Session of the Democratic Convention at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel in Los Angeles Sunday.(Chronicle Photo by Sam Deaner)

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PAGE ONE -- Democrats End Conclave Sniffing a November Win

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1998-03-23 04:00:00 PDT Los Angeles -- Sidestepping the ideological battles that have undermined their past campaigns, California Democrats yesterday emerged from their convention confident that one of their three gubernatorial candidates will be a winner in November.

First, however, they have to choose one of the three, a process that carries the risk of internal strife and division.

"It's time to roll up our sleeves and get ready for November," party chairman Art Torres told 2,000 cheering delegates who gathered to steel themselves for the battle to win the governor's seat from Republicans for only the fourth time this century.

Davis showed the broadest support among core party activists, many of whom have followed his career for more than two decades. But front-runner Harman, a favorite of many women, generated the most electricity and multimillionaire Checchi, still unfamiliar to many delegates, got a merely polite reception.

Davis tried to undermine his rivals' Democratic credentials by noting that Checchi had donated money to Republicans Steve Forbes and Bob Dole, while Harman deserted President Clinton on key votes.

"I may not be the new kid on the Democratic block, but with Gray Davis, you're getting the real deal," he told them, pounding the lectern.

While delegates booed the Checchi donations, the convention showed none of the kind of divisiveness that has hampered the Democrats in recent years. Past candidates for statewide office have struggled to win support from the liberal core of party workers without antagonizing more moderate voters in the general election.

This weekend, they talked education, abortion rights, crime and opposition to ballot measures that would restrict organized labor's ability to collect money from its members. They reserved their wrath for state Attorney General Dan Lungren, the presumptive GOP nominee for governor.

"We've got three great Democratic candidates," said political consultant Robert Barnes, a delegate from San Francisco. "The question is: Who can kick Dan Lungren's a --?"

Each candidate entered the three-day convention with different expectations and goals -- and each appeared to succeed, mostly.

Checchi, a California voter since 1986, has spent a staggering $18 million, mostly on television ads. With a lavish hospitality party hosting thousands and a performance by the popular band Los Lobos, his goal was to establish his credentials as a Democrat and a competent candidate.

In a rousing speech that repeated the phrase, "I am a Democrat," nearly a dozen times, Checchi tried to counter charges that he fails to mention his party affiliation in TV spots airing since November.

"It's easier to teach economics to Democrats than compassion to Republicans," he told the delegates.

Then in a swipe against rival Harman, Checchi said she once said she was "the best Republican in the Democratic party."

Hearing such sacrilege, he said, "my grandmother would turn over in her grave."

But later, Checchi himself was grilled by reporters about his past donations to the GOP. He said Forbes was a longtime friend and Dole's donation was a courtesy. He didn't rule out donating to Forbes again, saying only: "I'll have to think about it."

Harman, who is married to a multimillionaire electronics executive and is another largely self-financed candidate, needed to show a depth of support among party loyalists and a grasp of state issues that she has not dealt with in her three terms in Washington.

She reserved her toughest criticism for Lungren, who has been widely criticized by Democrats for being too slow to join other states in suing tobacco companies to recover health care costs.

"We need a governor who understands that tobacco is a poison that is killing our children, a governor who won't let California take a back seat to Mississippi or Minnesota or Missouri in fighting it," she said.

She appeared to win over many delegates.

"Gray Davis was so boring. Jane Harman was forceful and energetic," said delegate Stuart Rubin of Van Nuys, echoing the sentiments of many who saw her for the first time. "I believe Gray's the real Democrat, but he doesn't have the money for TV -- and that's what you'll need to win in November."

Indeed, Davis needed to inject life into his campaign that the Field Poll shows to be sagging under the weight of millions of dollars of Checchi and Harman television ads. Despite a lengthy demonstration by the delegates who professed adoration for him, Davis delivered the same speech that he gave repeatedly two weeks ago on a campaign tour.

From now on, the campaign will get both rougher and more expensive as the pace of television advertising picks up.

The candidates today must announce how much they've collected and spent since January 1.

Yesterday, Checchi, the corporate takeover artist whose personal wealth is estimated to be upwards of $550 million, acknowledged that "there is not an upper limit" to what he might spend.

Checchi's campaign strategist, Darry Sragow, said that his television buys from this point onwards could exceed $2 million a week.

Garry South, Davis' strategist, said his candidate had $5 million in the bank, and will counter his rivals on television. "We will be on the air sooner than you think -- and later than we like," he said.

Harman's strategist, Bill Carrick, said the move by both Checchi and Davis to paint her as a Newt Gingrich clone will be unsuccessful with voters.

"They can take it out of context and have fun with it," Carrick said, but Harman's long record shows she has been supportive of President Clinton on issues that "matter to working families."